The Shiny Shrimps

The Shiny Shrimps (French: Les Crevettes pailletées) is a 2019 French sports comedy film directed by Cédric Le Gallo and Maxime Govare.^[1] Filmed in Croatia,^[2] the film stars Nicolas Gob as Matthias Le Goff, an Olympic swimming champion who makes a homophobic comment in a television interview, and is disciplined by the national swim team with the responsibility of coaching a gay water polo team who aspire to compete in the Gay Games.^[3]

The Shiny Shrimps
Theatrical release poster
French	Les Crevettes pailletées
Directed by	Cédric Le Gallo Maxime Govare
Written by	Cédric Le Gallo Maxime Govare
Produced by	Renaud Chélélékian Édouard Duprey
Starring	Nicolas Gob Alban Lenoir Michaël Abiteboul David Baïot Romain Lancry Roland Menou Geoffrey Couët Romain Brau Félix Martinez
Cinematography	Jérôme Alméras
Edited by	Samuel Danési
Music by	Thomas Couzinier Frédéric Kooshmanian
Production companies	Les Improductibles Kaly Productions
Distributed by	Universal Pictures International France
Release dates	19 January 2019 (2019-01-19) (Alpe d'Huez) 8 May 2019 (2019-05-08) (France)
Running time	100 minutes
Country	France
Language	French

The film premiered at the L'Alpe d'Huez Film Festival on 19 January 2019, and was released theatrically in France on 8 May 2019. A sequel, The Revenge of the Shiny Shrimps (French: La Revanche des Crevettes pailletées), was released on 13 April 2022.^[4]

Synopsis

Mathias Le Goff is a world vice-champion swimmer. After making homophobic comments during a television interview, he is sanctioned to train the glittering Shiny Shrimp, a gay water polo team, for three months for their participation in the Gay Games in Croatia. Two worlds that everything seems to oppose will have to team up as best they can.

Cast

• Nicolas Gob as Matthias Le Goff
• Alban Lenoir as Jean
• Michaël Abiteboul as Cédric
• David Baïot as Alex
• Romain Lancry as Damien
• Roland Menou as Joël
• Geoffrey Couët as Xavier
• Romain Brau as Fred
• Félix Martinez as Vincent
• Maïa Quesemand as Victoire
• Pierre Samuel as Bertrand
• Jean-Louis Barcelona as Hervé Langlois
• Yvon Back as President of French Swimming Federation

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 75% based on reviews from 28 critics, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "The Shiny Shrimps traffics in cliche, but for fans of inspirational underdog stories, the results may be too uplifting to resist."^[5]

The film received much support in public through popular presentations that included local LGBT/queer athletes.

• 
  Authors presenting the movie Berlin's MonGay program of Kino International, 2019
• 
  'Berlin Aquaholics' water polo players joined for talk

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the film remained a popular suggestion in LGBT+ media listings of video on demand.^[6][7]

Accolades

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
L'Alpe d'Huez Film Festival	January 20, 2019	Special Jury Award — Feature Film	The Shiny Shrimps	Won	[8]
Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival	June 6, 2019	Best LGBTQ Film		Nominated	[9]
Reel Q: Pittsburgh LGBTQ+ Film Festival	October 12, 2019	Best Narrative Feature		Won	[10]
Franzoesische Filmtage-Tuebingen	November 6, 2019	Prix du Public		Won	[11]